Crew: Paul Garrod

Paul Garrod has been a member since 1993 and it all started when a friend asked if he could help out at the lifeboat shed for a day. Paul said: "I had never been to sea and the friend who was involved said they were short handed one Sunday so I thought it would be good exercise - and then two weeks later I had a pager and was on the standby list."

Paul is the owner of the Furzedown Hotel on the sea front in Great Yarmouth, which he took over from his parents, who ran it for 45 years.

Like all crew members, Paul is on call 24 hours a day.

He said: "One time we were out to dinner at a restaurant in Yarmouth and the pager went. I threw some money on the table for my wife to get a taxi home and raced to the lifeboat still in my best suit."

Paul, who has lived in Great Yarmouth all his life, is also a Borough Councillor and a Former Mayor of Great Yarmouth.He feels all his jobs give him the oportunity to give something back to the community.

One of Paul's most memorable rescues happened early in his career. He recalled: "There was a disabled woman on board a stranded yacht so we put a tow rope on it and Dick, the coxswain, told me to jump on board. I was the only one on the yacht and I had to steer it ,under tow into the harbour."

Paul is now the Chairman of the Caister Volunteer Lifeboat Service,a role he finds a challenge.He has to keep the service high on everyones' agenda with a professional and competant crew and support team. It costs nearly £250,000 a year to keep operational so fund raising is an ongoing challenge